sept or jan

[pegmeg]

going to DL for the first time and i have little knowledge. the two times we can go are either sept or jan. which is the better month to go as far as crowds, rides amd parades being down and weather. we like to use the pool and am not familiar if calif weather is warm enough in jan. pleeeeaasse help. want this trip to be special. bought the unofficial guide but trust your opinions more. thanks

 

[bumbershoot]

We went Sept 17-21 last year, and I went Jan 25-26 this year.

Sept was definitely warmer; Jan was chilly and it rained.

On the dates we went, the crowds both times were on the light side, in my opinion. In Sept I could definitely see a difference between weekdays and getting to the weekend. Then again, the 21st was the day Haunted Mansion opened up again with its Nightmare Before Christmas overlay, so it was probably crowded with HM fans that day!

Swimming depends on where you're from and what you're used to.

Rain can be a bummer, but it clears out the parks, so I find it very helpful. We bought ponchos and carry them with us, so when it rains we throw those on and keep going. OK, well, to be exact, when it rained on our trip in December (we've been a couple times this last year, LOL) my hubby and son were miserable, so they went back to the hotel while I stayed and played in DCA. Then it stopped raining, I went back to the hotel, and hubby went off for a couple hours on his own as the park filled back up with people who didn't like the rain.

I think that after labor day you're more likely to run into attractions being down, but then if you get into Halloweentime they know it will be busy so they try to have things up and running. Depending on early or late January, you'll either hit the end of the holiday season (which will still have some crowds) or you'll be in a quieter, more-attractions-down time.

You can see there's no one, solid, answer. Hope my thoughts helped somewhat anyway!

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

It depends what time during each month you're thinking of going. We went in Sept of last year (the weekend after Labor Day weekend) and it was the best! The crowds were minimal, even on the weekend and the weather was perfect. Going before Labor Day will make it much more crowded, but more rides will be going. After Labor Day some rides might not be up and running, like I know HM goes down for the Halloween overlay.

We've also gone in Dec and I love it for the holiday decorations. The weather is much colder and there is always the chance of rain, although minimal. Depending on when in January you go, the holiday decorations may still be up and those are worth seeing. But I think a lot of rides go down for refurbs in Jan.

So not much help, right? LOL.

 

[fairycat]

Personally I would say september for many of the reasons the others stated

Better Weather, we can get late Warm spells in Sep, that will keep things very nice and make for more chance at swimming. January is one of our rainy months and can get chilly.

Ride Closures to be honest the only things I tend to see go down in the Fall are HM and IASW for their seasonal overlays. HMH will be open by the end of September though and IASW I think is coming on holiday early this year due to the refurb. I notice more rides go down pre-summer then post since so many have already had the work they need before their busy season and with Christmas and Halloween new busy seasons they tend to not want to disapoint the crowds with too many closures.

Mickey's Halloween is an event that you pay for seperate that does close DCA early but I heard is a blast! This tends to start the early part of September. Kids get to met charectors, see shows, ride rides, trick or treat in the park and the best part EVERYONE can dress up, that includes the adults (normally not allowed in the parks).

I personally think fall is one of the very best times to visit DLR!

ETA- Never go to DLR during the first week of January unless you have no other choice. It is probably some of the busiest days in the park all year. In 2006-2007 I went several times the first week and the 31st, 2nd and 4th had clousures of one or both of the parks for new ticket sales. It was jammed packed! Not fun!

 

[candied]

I would also suggest September, as well as the reasons other posters already mentioned. The crowds will dimish quite a bit after Labor day as schools go back in session, usually the day after. The weather will be beautiful as well.

Candace

 

[HydroGuy]

going to DL for the first time and i have little knowledge. the two times we can go are either sept or jan. which is the better month to go as far as crowds, rides amd parades being down and weather. we like to use the pool and am not familiar if calif weather is warm enough in jan. pleeeeaasse help. want this trip to be special. bought the unofficial guide but trust your opinions more. thanks

As others have said, Sept is usually warmer than Jan. See "Detailed Weather History for DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=23004158

Sept and Jan both fall into off-season category. As others have also said there are ride closure issues in these periods. For more information on this see "What You Should Know About Off-Season at DLR" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18462889

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Mickey's Halloween is an event that you pay for seperate that does close DCA early but I heard is a blast! This tends to start the early part of September. Kids get to met charectors, see shows, ride rides, trick or treat in the park and the best part EVERYONE can dress up, that includes the adults (normally not allowed in the parks).

I personally think fall is one of the very best times to visit DLR!

ETA- Never go to DLR during the first week of January unless you have no other choice. It is probably some of the busiest days in the park all year. In 2006-2007 I went several times the first week and the 31st, 2nd and 4th had clousures of one or both of the parks for new ticket sales. It was jammed packed! Not fun!

amen...thats all I can say

 

[Mrs. Bee]

going to DL for the first time and i have little knowledge. the two times we can go are either sept or jan. which is the better month to go as far as crowds, rides amd parades being down and weather. we like to use the pool and am not familiar if calif weather is warm enough in jan. pleeeeaasse help. want this trip to be special. bought the unofficial guide but trust your opinions more. thanks

Personally, any future trips we make to Disneyland will more than likely be in November/December/January. (October/February would be possibilites too.) I cannot stand hot weather so I want to avoid that as much as possible. We were there last Labor day weekend and they got record highs (108 degrees.) No thank you! Anything hotter than 75 is too hot. I actually prefer about 60-65 degree weather for the parks.

It can rain in January...but if you're lucky it only rains long enough for people to clear out of the park. If it does rain, a few rides do close down but they'll reopen if the weather improves.

In January, the Haunted Mansion would probably be closed so they can take down the Nightmare Before Christmas stuff. And I'm sure other things like the Matterhorn and Splash mountain often get refurbished this time of year.

I'm not sure about parade and show schedules.

Really it's all about personal prefrence. And for us.....it's cooler weather and the chance of rain over hot weather.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

... rides and parades ...

FWIW, here are the entertainment schedules from last September and last January. There are no guarantees, but these should be pretty close.

You mentioned the Unofficial Guide. JMHO, sometimes the UG makes mountains out of mole hills. Even though I recommend the UG, I find their ride/attraction descriptions to be unhelpful. I would recommend either skipping their descriptions entirely or just skimming them. Either way, take most of the UG's negativity with a grain of salt. The UG needs to remember that their readers are Going to Disneyland! Here is a good link for descriptions that I think are more helpful for Disneyland.

HTH

 

[jaanders]

SEPTEMBER. There last year for long weekend and the next 4 days. Weather was crazy HOT. Its not normally this hot though. I personally think that Sept is the best time to go. Not much down at the start of the month. Just haunted mansion I believe. Crowds are very low also. It is a great time to go.